PhD position in developmental psychology

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Key Words Psychology, communication, neuroscience

Details of the offer

Place of work: The PsyCLE Center / Aix-Marseille University

Missions: 

The PsyCLE Center invites applications for a fully funded PhD position to work with Dr. Marianne Jover and Dr. Céline Scola on Move to Tell, a project dedicated to unraveling the role of motor activity in the early development of intentional communication and the impact of preterm birth on this process. The project involves an interdisciplinary team of four researchers, three engineers, a PhD student, and a postdoctoral researcher.

The PhD student will investigate the early development of dyadic interactions through a longitudinal follow-up of infants (from 1 to 6 months) and compare typically developing infants with premature infants. She.he will use multimodal recordings (motion capture, voice, video) and time-series data analysis techniques (e.g., windowed cross-correlation).

Qualifications: 

Essential Qualifications:

• Master’s degree (or equivalent) in psychology, cognitive science, or neuroscience.
• Proficiency in behavioral data collection and signal processing (e.g., MATLAB, R).

Desirable Skills:

• Previous research experience in a Babylab (e.g., internships).
• Experience in motion analysis.
• Basic programming experience (e.g., MATLAB, Python).

Soft skills: 

• Strong written and spoken communication skills in English.
• Strong organizational and problem-solving skills.
• Strong interest in developmental psychology, infancy research, and/or motor development.

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Type of job

Type of contract CDD

Application deadline

Employment start date

Contact

Application Process

Required Documents:

• CV (max. 3 pages).
• Motivation letter (max. 2 pages) describing research interests, qualifications, and motivation.
• Academic transcripts and copies of degrees/certificates.
• Master’s thesis (or equivalent research work).
• Names and contact details of two referees (who have agreed to be contacted).
• Relevant publications (if any).

Interview Process

• Shortlisted candidates will be invited for an online or in-person interview with the two supervisors and the project’s scientific advisor, Prof. Daniela Corbetta.
• The selection process will be completed by the end of June 2025.

Send all required documents as a single PDF file (with your name as the file name) in the following order: CV, Motivation letter, Academic transcripts & degrees, Master’s thesis, Contact details of two referees, Publications (if applicable)

Submit your application with the subject line: PhD Application - Move To Tell.

For informal inquiries, please contact Dr. Marianne Jover.